From the Chair of Governors

Welcome

From the Chair of Governors

I was delighted when I heard the school planned to revamp The Elthamian. While I have enjoyed its previous format over the years, and it is an institution in its own right, it is great to see this new-look and refreshed publication – one that also incorporates news of Old Elthamians. I think the whole school community – current students, their parents, OEs and the school’s staff – can all rightly be proud of this new publication.

It is often forgotten that The Elthamian is no stranger to change. It has been published since July 1912, when the school moved to its present site (though with a break from 1918 to 1924). From the 1920s to the 1970s it appeared twice (or occasionally three times) per year, though it was a text-based publication with few photos. From 1980 it has been published annually – with colour photographs introduced later in that decade – and in 1990 the first familiar A4 size edition was published. That was when the section of the magazine aimed at Old Elthamians was moved into a separate magazine; the Junior School’s Grange Magazine was incorporated into The Elthamian in 2001. I believe this latest version is very much in keeping with the school we are today. The achievements of pupils shine through this publication, not just in the many and amazing ways it does at the school, but also once they leave and go on to become students at universities, apprentices or graduates in the workplace, and then through their careers.

This new-look publication takes the short and long view: being published twice each year, it gives readers the benefit of reading news and views about the school and beyond in a much timelier way than an annual publication can achieve. Equally, it means you can digest the news and articles in each edition over a longer period rather than in one fell swoop, followed by a full 12-month gap.

There is, in this publication, so much that students of this generation, together with their parents, can be proud of in coming through the past two difficult years. This edition will allow Old Elthamians, both recent and from many years ago, to look back on and see in greater context of their alma mater, a modern, dynamic school, still flourishing and bursting with opportunity. There are, moreover, plenty of fascinating life experiences that current students can read and learn from their predecessors at the school.

I commend The Elthamian to you and wish it and its editorial and production team well in developing it over the coming months and years.

With best wishes,

PETER DOYLE (OE 1971)

Chair of Governors